H-E-L-P! Spiral Cake

ok I need help making a spiral cake for a train track. I did a search on here. One tutorial no pics will show up, and the other I don;t quite understand. (Windy road-no pics) the other I can't tell and it doesn't really specify, when you cut away the top portion of the trail, then add cake back, are you adding what you cut off, or is it another cake? And if it is another cake, I don't get how its carved to curve and fit against the main cake. Am I making sense? Usually I am a visual learner, but I just don't get it. This cake I have to bake in 2 days (Wed evening) Please any advice, any pics any HELP!!!

I did my first spiral cake several weeks ago and found it surprisingly easy. I found a couple of tutorials but what really helped me was the tutorial on MyCakeSchool .com. She did a Thomas the Train cake and went through all the steps. I did have to pay to join but I too was desperate at the time. It's hard to tell someone how to do it. You really need to see it and watching her in action made it easier.

Here is the cake central tutorial...with pics

What I learned at MyCakeSchool was instead of using toothpicks to mark the area you want to cut, to use a food color pen to mark where you're cutting, and then on your knife, mark a 1" or 2" length and use that as your cutting depth guide. There's obviously more to it, but I really can't explain it in words. Better to see. HTH! Good luck!

Well, since those were the same ones I looked at and didn't understand, I wasn't paying mycakeschool either-though thats just because I've already spent too much on cake stuff and I am a home baker, hobbiest who's friends think I can do anything and so I try. Yes I charge them, so I am not out so much expense. But let me just say this was a learning experience! My top tier was to large and over hang, but I made false "wooden beam supports" and just made sure I had it really supported inside. The spiral did go all the way arond the cake. I used a 10in and 12in,

It looks great! And now you know what to do and what not to do! That's why I think for learning purposes, it's best to have a cake goal in mind and figure out how to get there! You so did it! Congratulations!

I wished I had seen that before! But it is very similar to what I did, using the cut off cake to make the spiral, I just did not thin out my winding around the cake, and I think that was my mistake making the top cake look larger than it should be. Thanks for that image! I will deffinately do that next time! Thanks!